bonescwa wrote:I am just wondering if people do this to preserve the tea in its new state? And more impotantly for me, how do people usually go about doing this? What is the equipment used?

waiting for teaism to write an article on this

its pretty easy, heat shrink wrap, a hairdryer/hot air gun and an impulse sealer.

to preserve it in a new state perhaps it would be best to go with mylar bags, vacumn seal with oxygen absorber

Yes will do a short article on this soon. Storing tea is a widely controversial issue and also depends on the climatic condition you store the tea. Much has been said and I hope you read up from past post of various TChatters sharing their experiences and opinions. For the purpose of explaining this technique of sealing tea, I will write something later soon.

I do put them in plastic bags.. of course its not the perfect material, maybe I'll find some large jars or something like that. If I lived in Malaysia or anywhere else with some humidity in the air I probably wouldnt do that. But here, the conditions are not so ideal for maturing tea - very, very dry air. If I didn't seal it, the tea would be drying out unless I built a humidifying cabinet, which is too much effort for me.So yes: I buy what I like and put it into ziplock bags. If it doesn't mature much, fine, as long as it keeps more or less the way it is. Is that the best way to do it? Am I preserving my tea from deterioration or am I choking it? I have no idea

P.S.: Its not sealed airtight though... the cabin where I store the tea smells quite distinctly of it, so a ziplock bag alone won't do it if you want it really airtight.

miig wrote:I do put them in plastic bags.. of course its not the perfect material, maybe I'll find some large jars or something like that. If I lived in Malaysia or anywhere else with some humidity in the air I probably wouldnt do that. But here, the conditions are not so ideal for maturing tea - very, very dry air. If I didn't seal it, the tea would be drying out unless I built a humidifying cabinet, which is too much effort for me.So yes: I buy what I like and put it into ziplock bags. If it doesn't mature much, fine, as long as it keeps more or less the way it is. Is that the best way to do it? Am I preserving my tea from deterioration or am I choking it? I have no idea

P.S.: Its not sealed airtight though... the cabin where I store the tea smells quite distinctly of it, so a ziplock bag alone won't do it if you want it really airtight.

hop_goblin wrote:NEVER in plastic! Unless of course, they are rare antique shengpu that will command thousands of USD.

I imagine that this statement, comes from the fact that you have tried, for many many years, this method of conservation, as well as many others, of course. So you might tell us more, right?

Have a nice day my friend.

Seriously?

Actually, now that you state that, Yes I have. I have been an avid Puerh collector for over 11 years. I have an extensive Puerh collection if you need to know.

Why would you want to stifle the aging process by artificially placing beengs in plastic. Aging only occurs when there is a humidity factor and oxygen none of which you will have if you put them in a garbage back.

If you have a humidity issue, buy a dehumidifier not a plastic bag.

Actually, putting them in a garbage bag will be exactly where they belong if you surround your puerh in plastic.

There are many puer-drinkers of equal experience that swear to the sealing of cakes.

For instance, Hojo recommends "keeping pu-erh tea in a tightly sealed aluminum bag where the oxygen is trapped inside the bag providing sufficient condition to mediate further maturation compared to those that are kept in open space ..." More on that here.

Not saying his suggestion is somehow better or that his science is undisputable (frankly I have no idea, and no experience!), just pointing out that it's an issue more open to discussion than you make it out to be.

hop_goblin wrote:NEVER in plastic! Unless of course, they are rare antique shengpu that will command thousands of USD.

I imagine that this statement, comes from the fact that you have tried, for many many years, this method of conservation, as well as many others, of course. So you might tell us more, right?

Have a nice day my friend.

Seriously?

Actually, now that you state that, Yes I have. I have been an avid Puerh collector for over 11 years. I have an extensive Puerh collection if you need to know.

Why would you want to stifle the aging process by artificially placing beengs in plastic. Aging only occurs when there is a humidity factor and oxygen none of which you will have if you put them in a garbage back.

Actually, putting them in a garbage bag will be exactly where they belong if you surround your puerh in plastic if you are wanting to age them.

Good luck my friend.

I am more than happy that you are an avid Puerh collector and that you have an extensive Puerh collection, but this does not mean that your statement is the absolute truth.

In 11 years you should have understood that the methods of conservation are numerous and all very different, each of which will give different characteristics to the tea stored in a given way.

There are those who stores Pu Erh in a sealed bag, who stores in mylar bags, who stores in humid environment, who stores in a dry environment, who stores at temperature near 0 C°, who combines two or more methods of conservation, e.g. humid (before) and dry (after).

Who are we to affirm that one method is correct and one is not? People's preferences are often very different, so common sense should lead us to reflect that there is not a correct method.

William wrote:I am more than happy that you are an avid Puerh collector and that you have an extensive Puerh collection, but this does not mean that your statement is the absolute truth.

In 11 years you should have understood that the methods of conservation are numerous and all very different, each of which will give different characteristics to the tea stored in a given way.

There are those who stores Pu Erh in a sealed bag, who stores in mylar bags, who stores in humid environment, who stores in a dry environment, who stores at temperature near 0 C°, who combines two or more methods of conservation, e.g. humid (before) and dry (after).

Who are we to affirm that one method is correct and one is not? People's preferences are often very different, so common sense should lead us to reflect that there is not a correct method.

Have a nice day.

just keep tasting find the storage style that gives the product which you enjoy. understand the tea in the sheng form to optimize the storage too its quite prickly when it comes to aging gushu pu-er, since gushus tea is something of the past couple of decades.

currently enjoying another sealed stored tea cake that has reached the 7 year mark.. da meng long meng song.. yumyum... the body of the tea has thickened, almost smoothened out already, and the lovely aromatics are intact.

hop_goblin wrote:NEVER in plastic! Unless of course, they are rare antique shengpu that will command thousands of USD.

I imagine that this statement, comes from the fact that you have tried, for many many years, this method of conservation, as well as many others, of course. So you might tell us more, right?

Have a nice day my friend.

Seriously?

Actually, now that you state that, Yes I have. I have been an avid Puerh collector for over 11 years. I have an extensive Puerh collection if you need to know.

Why would you want to stifle the aging process by artificially placing beengs in plastic. Aging only occurs when there is a humidity factor and oxygen none of which you will have if you put them in a garbage back.

Actually, putting them in a garbage bag will be exactly where they belong if you surround your puerh in plastic if you are wanting to age them.

Good luck my friend.

I am more than happy that you are an avid Puerh collector and that you have an extensive Puerh collection, but this does not mean that your statement is the absolute truth.

In 11 years you should have understood that the methods of conservation are numerous and all very different, each of which will give different characteristics to the tea stored in a given way.

There are those who stores Pu Erh in a sealed bag, who stores in mylar bags, who stores in humid environment, who stores in a dry environment, who stores at temperature near 0 C°, who combines two or more methods of conservation, e.g. humid (before) and dry (after).

Who are we to affirm that one method is correct and one is not? People's preferences are often very different, so common sense should lead us to reflect that there is not a correct method.

Have a nice day.

Being pedantic will not make your statement true also. As I noted in my post, if there is a humidity problem buy a dehumidifier. I would be hard pressed to find any of the great tongs and/or prized puerhs that exist were stored in fancy smanzy bags. I can be certain of this since the technology didn't even exist at that time. Remember, it are these beengs, that we as we collectors are attempting to emulate. I would seriously rethink your methods.

Dry environment does in no way mean without humidity, it means controlling the humidity to some extent, extending the oxidation process which is a relatively new concept. Wet-storage typically is done as a consequence of not controlling humidity in very humid environments, either as a result of wanting to turn Sheng pu as quickly as possible, or the inability to control the humid environment. Conservation shouldn't even be part of the equation until the puerh has reached its peak.

You've been away awhile, hop_goblin...those are the theories that have popped up these days. Let 'em do what they want to do. Feeling like they are in control of the process is important to their enjoyment.

hop_goblin wrote:Being pedantic will not make your statement true also. As I noted in my post, if there is a humidity problem buy a dehumidifier. I would be hard pressed to find any of the great tongs and/or prized puerhs that exist were stored in fancy smanzy bags. I can be certain of this since the technology didn't even exist at that time. Remember, it are these beengs, that we as we collectors are attempting to emulate. I would seriously rethink your methods.

Dry environment does in no way mean without humidity, it means controlling the humidity to some extent, extending the oxidation process which is a relatively new concept. Wet-storage typically is done as a consequence of not controlling humidity in very humid environments, either as a result of wanting to turn Sheng pu as quickly as possible, or the inability to control the humid environment. Conservation shouldn't even be part of the equation until the puerh has reached its peak.

We are talking about two different aspects. My speech just wanted you to understand that your own experience, your cultural background about Pu Erh, your opinions, may not be necessarily correct, if correctness of method really exists.

Therefore, in my opinion, it is not correct to judge a method as wrong,just because this differs from your method.

shah82 wrote:You've been away awhile, hop_goblin...those are the theories that have popped up these days. Let 'em do what they want to do. Feeling like they are in control of the process is important to their enjoyment.

Do not you think that a discussion on the matter, could be much more useful, instead of pointing to all as "weird", for any type of storage that differs from yours?

shah82 wrote:You've been away awhile, hop_goblin...those are the theories that have popped up these days. Let 'em do what they want to do. Feeling like they are in control of the process is important to their enjoyment.

Puerh is a 'living tea', which for the most part is already destined to be a good, or bad tea even before we receive it in the post. It's all about the region, manufacturing processes and effort by those who produced it that matters most. What we do after the fact will have minimal effect and vacuums, Mymar etc cheapens the mystic. Not to say that storage considerations do not matter, in fact they do, but a bad tea in any condition will remain a bad tea. All that we can do is attempt to make a bad tea palatable so not to piss our money away. lol.